Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Xephos was already in a bad mood when Zoeya approached him.

He sat alone, chewing his lip absentmindedly as he studied the machine parts in front of him. The generators weren’t performing as he had expected them to, and he sighed in frustration as he realized he was going to have to deconstruct the sorter again. A wire shocked him as he realized all too late that he’d forgotten to turn the power off before beginning to dismantle the circuits. He cursed under his breath and nursed the burned finger. 

Xephos had spent the day prior working with Sjin, the bearded man offering his services out of boredom on his day off. But, Sjin had since returned to Sips Co., and with Honeydew away on an adventure and Lalna working on a project at his castle, Xephos was left alone to tinker with the sorting machine. 

This expectation of solitude was partially why he jumped two feet in the air when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Thankfully, he had only jumped, instead of accidentally hurting the assailant. He had an unfortunate habit of instinctively lashing out when he was startled.

He spun on his heel and stared in confusion at the stranger. 

Well, he realized, more accurately, the not -so stranger, because he recognized the figure- Zoeya.

Zoeya wasn’t someone he knew all that well. He’d seen her once or twice before, when she’d gone to Lalna’s castle to borrow some tools. Even then, they hadn’t spoken beyond Lalna briefly introducing them to each other. Beyond that, all he knew was anecdotal bits and pieces the scientist had mentioned off-handedly. Many of Lalna’s stories about Rythian included mentions of Zoeya as well. 

Lalna didn’t often speak about what he did when he was at his castle alone, but Xephos was generally aware of his and Rythian’s… ‘relationship.’ Xephos wasn’t all that fond of Rythian due to this unstable rivalry, even if Lalna regarded it jokingly. He remembered all too clearly an incident where he’d prevented the mage from murdering the blonde in his sleep. 

However, despite Zoeya’s association with Rythian, Lalna had reassured him that she herself wasn’t anyone to worry about. Even now she didn’t seem that way. The redhead smiled goofily at him, fidgeting with her bangs absentmindedly. 

But, this didn’t explain why she was here, and just that strangeness put Xephos slightly on edge.

“Hiya, Xephos!” She grinned widely. He blinked in surprise at her loud energy that bluntly forced himself out of his previously quiet mindset.

“Ah, hello Zoeya,” he greeted politely, tilting his head slightly in confusion. He dusted his hands off with a teatowel. “Er, may I help you?” 

Zoeya gazed over his shoulder at the machine with a glint of interest for a moment before refocusing on him. She was taller than him, around Lalna’s height, which forced him to slightly tilt his head up to meet her blue eyes.

“Yeah! I was looking for Lalna? I know he comes around here sometimes,” she said.

Xephos hummed. That would make sense. Zoeya occasionally visited Lalna for machine parts and technological help.

“I’m sorry, friend, Lalna’s not here at the moment- he’s at his castle, right now,” Xephos explained, turning back to his work as he expected Zoeya to quickly scurry off in that direction.

But, Zoeya grunted in disagreement. “No, he isn’t. I was just there lookin’ for him.”

Xephos paused mid-reaching for his wrench. He turned back with a frown. “He’s not at his castle?”

Zoeya started babbling, twisting her hands nervously. “No, ‘cos you see, Rythian’s been missin’ for a day or so, and I figured, ‘well, he’s probably still out with Lalna!’ So, I went to go find Lalna, but he wasn’t there, so I figured-”

Xephos held up his hand silently asking her to pause, his frown deepening. A prickle of worry ran down his spine. He searched her face. “You said Rythian’s missing, too?”

Zoeya nodded. “Yeah, I know Ryth’ went to confront Lal’, but he never came back to Blackrock, so I got nervous. But, I figured they’d still be together so finding Lalna would be a good start,” she explained, speaking a tick faster than one would consider normal.

Xephos furrowed his brow. It was true he hadn’t heard from Lalna in a couple days, but that was hardly unusual. He’d long given up on checking in regularly with the scientist when he was away. Lalna hardly ever checked his communicator, more often than not getting caught up in his own projects. However, that didn’t mean Xephos didn’t have other failsafes to make sure he was alright.

“I can track Lalna’s communicator. If it’s in his inventory, it should ping an accurate location for me,” Xephos pulled out his own communicator, a small, circular device with a screen. He tapped a few times, pulling up the GPS tracking application. After the Jaffa Factory trio had gotten separated one too many times, Xephos and Lalna had decided to add it on all their inventory communicators.

“Ooh!” Zoeya explained, peering over his shoulder at the device. “What’s that?”

“Inventory-user communicator, just slightly upgraded,” Xephos replied absentmindedly as he tapped the screen. His stomach dropped as he located Lalna’s communicator.

“You were right, he’s not at his castle,” Xephos said quietly. “Frankly, I don’t know where this is.”

Lalna’s communicator displayed about a thousand meters north of the Jaffa Factory, in an area that Xephos’ communicators map had yet to fill in. Zoeya squinted at the screen. 

“D’you think something happened?” Zoeya asked nervously, feeding Xephos’ own anxiety. His mind began to fill with worse upon worse theories. If Lalna and Rythian had truly been missing for over a day at this point, there was a chance that they were injured, or trapped, or perhaps even captured by some unknown evil entity. His throat tightened as he imagined Lalna trapped somewhere, too injured to contact someone or escape himself. Hurt, and alone-

“Xephos?” Zoeya probed, and Xephos realized he still hadn’t replied.

“I’m… I’m not sure,” he replied hesitantly, sounding a lot less confident than he wished.

“Well, the longer we wait, the longer they stay there,” Zoeya seemed to decide for the both of them, and he flinched as she grabbed his arm. She began to pull him towards the exit. 

“We?” Xephos questioned, a bit harsher than he intended.

She grinned at him. “Yeah! Both our buddies are missing, so we ought to team up to find them! It’ll be like…” She trailed off and tapped her chin. “It’ll be Zoeya and Xephos’ Epic Team-Up of Awesomeness!”

Xephos grimaced, dread pooling in his stomach as he allowed the woman to guide him. Zoeya and Xephos’ Epic Team-Up of Awesomeness, indeed…

They exited the Jaffa Factory, and Xephos detached himself from Zoeya’s grasp. He didn’t have a flying ring like Lalna or an airship, which limited their ways of quick travel down to one option. 

He gestured at Zoeya. “Follow me, quickly. We need to go back to Lalna’s castle.”

Zoeya looked at him curiously but nodded. Luckily, the scientist’s home was only about twenty minutes away on foot. Xephos skirted around the castle and headed towards the forested plains area he knew was just slightly beyond. There, he approached a barn- a large, neglected wooden building from when Lalna’s grandmother owned the property. He reminded himself to get Lalna to help him clean up the area once he had the chance.

Several animals whinnied at Xephos’ entrance as he exposed them to the morning sunlight. He attempted to ignore the obtrusive smell and approached the horses.

“Hello, Sugar,” Xephos greeted the white mare in front of him. The horse snorted and pawed her hoof at the dirt, a motion he had come to learn meant she was pleased to see him. Since Xephos had become acquainted with the species, he’d quickly come to appreciate them for their intelligence and affectionate nature.

Zoeya, who had been trailing behind him, peered in awe at all the animals housed in the stable. “I didn’t know Lalna had horses!” She exclaimed.

Xephos nodded and patted Sugar’s muzzle. “Nilesy manages the stable and pasture most of the time. This is Sugar, she belongs to me, but stays here, along with Lalna and Honeydew’s horses,” he explained, gesturing to two other equines nearby.

Zoeya began to approach Sugar and he raised his hand cautiously. “You may want to be careful, she doesn’t typically like humans. Or most Minecraftians, for that matter,” he warned. 

That was part of the reason Sugar had come into his possession in the first place. His non-Minecraftian nature made him one of the few people the horse would allow herself to be managed by. Her previous owner had practically begged him to take her. To this day, despite knowing Lalna and Honeydew well by this point, she still tended to nip at them if Xephos wasn’t in their immediate vicinity. Xephos could only assume the reason Nilesy hadn’t had similar troubles with her was his half-feline nature.

Though, as Zoeya nodded in acknowledgement, Xephos did have to wonder if she was human. Her general physique was humanoid, as most Minecraftians were, but the slight point on her ears did cause him pause. As well, the general buzz of energy that he could feel when in close proximity to her- something that Lalna a long time ago had explained to him was an indication of magical aptitude- betrayed something ever so slightly nonhuman.

“Sugar, this is Zoeya. She’s our friend. Be nice,” he chided the horse gently as Zoeya approached. The mare considered her cautiously, her ears flicking unsurely.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sugar. Crikey, you are absolutely beautiful!” Zoeya praised, and the horse seemed to preen under the compliment. A much better reaction to a stranger than usual, by far.

Xephos smiled slightly at her respectful reply. He turned and moved over to the next stall. “This is Goldie, she belongs to Lalna, but you can borrow her for this trip.” 

Goldie was Lalna’s palomino mare, named for her cream-colored hair and golden-brown coat. Her temperament was as equally easy-going as her owner’s, and he knew she wouldn’t mind a stranger. Zoeya immediately began cooing over the horse, who was quickly enamored by the attention.

As he unlocked the stalls and began guiding the two horses out to the front to put their gear on, he noticed Sweetie Pie, Honeydew’s pony, whinnying unhappily. 

“Hush now, you can come along next time,” he chastised the displeased pony, who huffed at him in response. Zoeya giggled and Xephos cleared his throat embarrassedly as his conversation with the animal was noticed. 

He ducked away and quickly equipped both horses with their saddles and harnesses. He’d become much quicker at the practice after consistently riding horses when traveling with Honeydew and Knight Peculier. Such adventures felt worlds away now. Checking his communicator once again, he confirmed the coordinates of Lalna’s communicator. The sun was still low in the morning sky, and he nodded to himself as he confirmed his calculations.

“It should only take about two hours to get there, if we travel at full speed,” he murmured to himself, before looking back up to Zoeya. “That should leave us plenty of time to retrieve Rythian and Lalna before nightfall, assuming there aren’t any complications,” he finished decisively.

Zoeya hummed, having been cheerfully occupied with playing with Goldie for the last several minutes. “Sounds good to me!” She chirped, mounting the horse in a slightly clumsy fashion.

Once settled, she turned and grinned toothily at Xephos. “Let’s go save some dum-dums!”

Chapter Text

Lalna’s head hurt. And that wasn’t just because he hadn't had anything to drink or eat in twenty-four hours.

No, that pain could be easily attributed to the man sitting in front of him glaring holes into his head.

“Y’know, you could look somewhere else,” Lalna grumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is this uncomfortable for you?” Rythian snarked. “Gee, is this situation not just picture perfect for you, Lalna?”

Lalna’s temper flared again and he glared back at the mage. “Y’know, maybe if you weren’t trying to kill me all the time-”

Rythian started to raise his voice. “Oh, because this is just my fault, isn’t it-!” 

“Quiet in there!” A guard outside barked for the upteenth time as he pounded on the metal door. Lalna huffed and readjusted his shoulders. The inventory inhibitor around his neck cut into his throat as he inhaled too deeply.

His arms had long gone numb from being held above his head by iron cuffs and chains. His rubber gloves only just helped the metal not dig into his wrists. 

Rythian sat directly across from him. He was propped up in an identical manner, with his bandaged arms pinned above his head as he sat against the cell’s stone brick wall. The only difference was Rythian had both an inventory inhibitor and a magic inhibitor around his neck, the thick metal collars stacked on top of each other forcing his chin to stick slightly outward. 

Lalna would almost argue being forced to sit in the mage’s presence was the worst part of this situation.

He wiggled his fingers and shifted again. His eyes drooped slightly. Sleeping had been completely out of the question with the position he was stuck in. When they had first been captured, their capturers had dosed them both with weakness potions to slow down their bodily functions, but the feeling of hunger and thirst was slowly returning. 

Rythian made a huffing noise. “Would you stop squirming?” He scowled at him.

“Eh meh meh meh meh,”   Lalna retorted in a mocking tone.

“Gee, what an articulate and mature response! How long did it take you to come up with that one?” Rythian said sarcastically. Lalna rolled his eyes, now more irritated at Rythian for having one-upped him than the original cause of the argument itself. 

He had just opened his mouth to pick up the fight again when the door suddenly opened. 

Two guards entered. Their faces were obscured by dark helmets with visors. The first guard was shorter and stouter, but clearly in charge. They held a gun that was surprisingly advanced for typical Minecraftian standards. The second guard was taller and more muscular, but almost seemed to try and hide behind the first. They carried a more primitive crossbow with an arrow that gleamed with enchantments. 

“It is time for your scheduled sustenance. Try anything, and we will not hesitate to execute you,” the first guard warned as their partner pulled out a set of keys.

Lalna seriously doubted this threat, because he knew these people must have a reason for taking him and Rythian. By killing them this would completely defeat the purpose of taking them in the first place. However, he managed to keep his mouth shut.

The second guard used a key to unlock Lalna’s cuffs. They watched him closely as he rubbed his wrists. 

A piece of bread with a thin slice of meat and a bucket of water was presented to him. 

“Eat,” the first guard ordered. Lalna’s face burned with indignation at the order.

Lalna hated following orders. He hated being told what to do, and he hated being dependent on people. He lived his life following his own rules, and he liked it that way. 

But now he had no choice.

He glared silently at the guard as he scarfed down the food and water. He relieved himself in the emptied bucket.

The guard swiftly relocked him into place. They then repeated the same process with Rythian. Lalna watched as Rythian lowered his mask to eat, displaying the rare sight of his mouth and scars for just a few moments. 

Memories of the first and only time he had seen the scars briefly flashed in his mind. It had only been a few years prior, but it felt like a lifetime ago. A moment of tense eye contact as slim digits tugged the scarf down away from nervously pursed lips. A gentle brush of fingers against the jaw.

Lalna averted his eyes to stare silently at the dirty stone beneath him. Counting the gravel pebbles scattered across the floor was suddenly much more interesting. He only looked back over as the sound of the metal locks being clicked alerted him. He and Rythian were both in chains once again.

The guards began to head towards the door. Lalna’s breath hitched as he realized they were leaving.

“Wait!” He shouted. “Aren’t you gonna tell us what we’re here for? What you guys want out of us, or whatever?”

The guards looked at each other as if having a silent conversation about whether or not to answer him. 

After a moment, the first guard turned back to him. “You will receive information as necessary,” he said in a very rehearsed tone. Lalna’s expression dropped with irritation.

“Well, that’s useful,” he grumbled. “You could at least tell us why you kidnapped us. ‘Cos Mr. Tall-dark-and-gloomy over there won’t tell me why you want him,” Lalna jerked his head at Rythian, who’s head snapped up to glare at him.

“Why do you keep saying this is my fault? It was clearly your weapons who attracted-”

“Nuh-uh, they obviously want your magic!” Lalna paused and tilted his head as a smirk spread across his face. “Actually, you know what, maybe they do want my weapons. ‘Cos at least those are cool and useful-”

“Oh, yes, very useful at c ausing mass irreparable damage to innocent people!” Rythian’s voice peaked sharply with anger.

Lalna rolled his eyes. “Right, like magic can’t be used for bad stuff just as easily-”

“Stop it!” The first guard shouted, interrupting their argument. “Gods, you two are insufferable,” they sneered, appearing to attempt to rub their temple through their helmet. They glared back and forth between the two prisoners.

“If I hear a single word between the two of you, you can expect not to receive any of our gracious amenities for quite a while,” they threatened. Rythian and Lalna both rolled their eyes simultaneously, but it was Rythian who got to the snarky remark first.

“Right, so gracious- ow!” Rythian yelped as the first guard reached over and grabbed his ear, twisting it painfully to make him shut up. The guard released his ear and Rythian huffed slightly. Lalna snickered, but clicked his mouth shut at the threatening glance of the second guard.

“Not. A. Word.” The first guard said with a note of finality, jabbing his fingers back and forth between the two for emphasis. They backed towards the door.

Both guards left the cell. The door closed and relocked with a complex-mechanical clunking noise. The room was left silent. 

Rythian stared at him distastefully, shifting his legs slightly. “You just can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?” He sniffed.

Lalna grinned at him. “Some say that’s my best quality,” he said.

Rythian scoffed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t look at him again. It was the mage’s turn to stare at the oh-so interesting stone floor.

Lalna studied him, waiting a few minutes for him to pick a fight again. When he didn’t, Lalna leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes. 

At least he didn’t have to deal with Rythian’s creepy staring anymore.

Chapter Text

Xephos fidgeted nervously with Sugar’s rein. While initially they had been making very good time whilst traveling through the smoother plains area, they had recently entered a forested area. While there was a marked path, the uneven terrain and twisting path forced them to slow down from their original speedy gallop to a trot. 

But even just this minor delay was causing his anxiety to tick up. Intrusive images of Lalna being harmed in all different fashions kept surfacing and making his stomach churn. He tried to focus on the foliage around him to clear the scenes away. 

Zoeya had been showing signs of slight anxiety as well, babbling about different things throughout their journey. Topics ranging from interior design to an anthropomorphic dinosaur had been discussed, with most of the topics leaving Xephos intrigued, but also very confused.

Though, it was possible this style of disjointed, fast-paced conversation was just her baseline state, and the more he listened to her the more this seemed to be the case.

Once the conversation had lulled a tad, Xephos cleared his throat. “You wouldn’t happen to know what Lalna and Rythian were doing meeting up, would you? The more information we have the better,” he said. He brought up the topic gently, not sure if she would be as cagey about their interactions as Lalna tended to be.

“Barry the Mushroom said he saw something, but I’m not sure I believe him,” Zoeya replied nonchalantly. 

A mushroom said something? Xephos furrowed his brow, slightly tilting his head. “I thought mushrooms were a type of food?”

“Well, some people eat them, but I don’t. They’re my friends,” Zoeya explained with a toothy grin. 

“And… you can talk to them?”

She nodded, seeming pleased by his interest. “Yeah! Most people can’t, but I can.” She grinned proudly.

Xephos studied her unsurely. It certainly sounded odd, but it definitely wasn’t the weirdest thing he’d encountered on this planet. All things considered, this was barely par for the course. 

He readjusted the cross-body strap of his sword. “Right. So… Barry the Mushroom told you he’d seen something?”

Zoeya nodded again, looking askance as she recalled the story. “He said some recon’ mushrooms in the forest had seen them fighting, and then some other people came and knocked ‘em out and took them away,” she said, twisting her hair absentmindedly with her fingers.

Xephos turned and gave Zoeya a startled look, sharply pulling at Sugar’s rein to stop her. “And you didn’t think to mention this earlier?”

“I didn’t know if you’d believe me,” Zoeya replied with a shrug.

Xephos groaned internally. The confirmation of Rythian and Lalna most likely being captured would make this a lot more complicated. He stroked his chin as his brain took in the information and quickly began to compensate with a new plan. “Then we’re walking into a fight, I assume,” he mused bitterly. He glanced back at the redheaded woman. “Did you happen to bring a weapon with you?”

Zoeya accessed her inventory and pulled out what appeared to be a blowgun and a handful of darts. “I have these!” She grinned toothily.

Xephos held back a grimace. With only his sword and Zoeya’s blowgun, a fight would not bode well if the capturers had advanced technology or magical abilities. He found himself yearning for Lalna’s technological prowess once more, cursing himself for never making a power glove like the other man had recommended.

If Zoeya noticed his trepidation, she didn’t mention it. “Come on! We need to keep moving,” she smiled. Xephos envied her apparent confidence.

He pursed his lips and flicked Sugar’s rein to encourage her forward. “Right then.”

~@~

“It’s interesting, isn’t it?” Lalna mused quietly. Rythian didn’t reply, and Lalna didn’t expect him to. The man hadn’t spoken a word since the guards left. 

Lalna continued nonetheless.

“Those guards from before- they had advanced weapons. One of them had an automatic gun. They have inventory and magic inhibitors on hand for their prisoners. Most Minecraftians don’t have access to technology like that, unless they’re part of some institution or they’re an independent inventor with a lot of money,” he said. He waited for a moment to see if Rythian would respond. When he didn’t, he added: “But this cell is really crude. Isn’t that weird?”

Rythian didn’t acknowledge his words, his head leaned back and eyes closed. Lalna let out a grumbling sigh. He shifted in his spot, thinking hard about how to get the man’s attention.

“We could die here,” Lalna said dramatically, hoping to elicit a response. 

Rythian sighed and peeked a singular eye open. “If you continue to be so loud, that’s almost a guarantee,” he grumbled.

Lalna grinned teasingly. “Well, that’s what you were hoping for, wasn’t it?” 

Rythian didn’t respond to his antagonism. Lalna slumped his shoulders. There wasn’t any fun in a rivalry when your rival didn’t poke back. Without their back-and-forth, Rythian was just a paranoid mage who genuinely did want him dead. 

And now, as the silence between the two began to eat at him, Lalna was forced to reckon with the reality of his situation.

Because he honestly wasn’t sure if he would make it out alive. 

Considering the fact his companions were only aware that he was supposed to be working at his castle these past few days, they might not have even noticed that he was missing yet. And the more he thought about it, once they did realize he was gone, he wasn’t even sure they would know where to look.

Several months ago, after an unfortunate separation, Lalna and Xephos had devised a tracking mechanism to be added to the trio’s communicators, that way if they were separated they could locate each other as long as they had their communicators.

But now with the inventory inhibitor around his neck, he was beginning to reconsider the effectiveness of this tracking mechanism.

Inventory inhibitors, when put on someone who had an inventory, completely restricted the person’s access to their personal pocket dimension. By doing this, Lalna was completely unable to get his communicator to manually message for help. Which wouldn’t be an issue as long as the tracker worked, but the more he considered that his access to his inventory was being prevented, the more he wondered if the signal itself could be blocked as well. Inventory inhibitors were incredibly hard to come by, so he hadn’t even considered the devices interfering with signals when originally adding the trackers.

And if that was the case, it meant his friends wouldn’t be able to track his location.

And while death wasn’t necessarily the worst possible option, considering both his and Rythian’s ability to respawn, Lalna still wasn’t fond of the idea of starving to death in a moldy cell.

His eyebrows furrowed as he wondered how many days he would be stuck here. Lalna wasn’t sure how much time had passed so far, at least over a day he figured, but that was still more than enough to make him antsy. 

He sighed again, glancing one last time at Rythian before closing his eyes again. He was beginning to feel tired enough that sleep might finally be an option. It was worth a try, he figured. 

At least then he wouldn’t have to pay attention to his thoughts anymore.

Chapter Text

Lalna had often pondered about what it would be like to be kidnapped. It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility, there were a lot of people out there that he had pissed off over the years. People who might want to force him to finish up weapons contracts he didn’t see through, or get payback for less-than-legal obtainments of materials he’d partaken in.

But, of all the scenarios he’d imagined, he’d never thought it would be so boring .

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone this long without doing something . Working on a project, or mining, or exploding something. Sitting here not even able to twiddle his thumbs was going to drive him crazy .

Rythian glared at him. “Will you stop that?”

Lalna groaned. “Stop what? There’s nothing to do!”

Rythian nodded at his leg. “You keep bouncing your knee. It’s annoying.”

Lalna rolled his eyes. 

The mage continued. “And, of course there’s nothing to do. What were you expecting? A circus?” He mocked.

Lalna tilted his head with consideration. “I was at least thinking there would be some interrogations. Maybe some torture, get dangled over a tank of alligators. Ooh, or maybe get trapped with a bomb that you have a limited amount of time to diffuse!" His voice rose in pitch as he started to get excited.

Rythian stared at him like he was some sort of homicidal maniac. Which was ironic, Lalna thought, considering Rythian was the one trying to kill him.

Lalna imagined Rythian pinching his nose in irritation. If his hands hadn’t been bound, there was a non-zero chance he would have. 

He spoke with his teeth grit together. “There is not going to be any bombs-“

BOOM! Both Lalna and Rythian screamed as the sound and force of a piercing explosion came from the back wall of their cell. Rubble and dust flew through the air and hit them, but both were too distracted to check whether or not they’d been wounded. 

Sunlight from the outside was pouring through the settling dust. A silhouette appeared, climbing over the pile of cinderblocks. Apparently, Rythian could see through dust better than Lalna could, as he recognized them immediately.

“Zoey’!” Rythian gasped as the technomage appeared out of the rubble with a manic expression. Lalna blinked in surprise. Zoeya was the one to rescue them? With an explosion like that he was honestly expecting Honeydew.

“Rythian! I thought I might seeya’ here,” she teased. Rythian squirmed, averting his eyes and seeming to blush by the tips of his ears.

Lalna could hear another person coughing, and he craned his neck to try and see who else was there. Had Zoeya brought that dinosaur Teep with her? Maybe Ravs or Minty?

His jaw nearly dropped when he saw from the settling dust a slim, male figure emerge. He almost burst into tears as he realized who it was.

“Hello, friend,” Xephos knelt by him, smiling his familiar soft, polite smile. Lalna couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey,” he said breathlessly, a bit lost for words. Xephos and Zoeya? That was not the duo of rescuers he was expecting.

“Are you alright?” Xephos asked, his eyes scanning over Lalna’s body anxiously. Dust settled in his dark hair like powdered sugar. The question pulled him back to reality and he nodded.

“Never better,” Lalna replied with a lopsided grin. Xephos raised an unconvinced eyebrow. He equipped a bolt cutter from his inventory and cut the metal chaining his wrists together. Lalna’s arms dropped. He wiggled the numb limbs to force the blood back into them.

Xephos briefly touched the inventory inhibitor around Lalna’s neck and frowned. “I’ll get this off of you as soon as we have a bit more time,” he reassured. 

Lalna nodded and attempted to stand, his body immediately protesting after not moving for so long. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and his knees started to crumple under his weight. Xephos quickly looped his arms underneath him to steady him. Lalna was reminded of how strong Xephos could be as the slimmer man supported him, an aspect of the man he tended to forget. He was suddenly very aware of the alien’s hand resting on top of his heart.

“Careful,” Xephos warned as he shifted their collective weight. He turned to Zoeya, who was holding up Rythian in a similar fashion. Under his mask, the mage had turned very pale and suddenly didn’t seem in the mood to complain.

“We need to move. Now,” Xephos ordered in that voice he sometimes used that reminded Lalna of a military officer. Zoeya nodded and the four began shuffling forward through the hole in the wall. 

As they exited, Lalna winced at the brightness of the sun. A loud alarm had begun to blare in the distance and he felt Xephos flinch under his arm.

“This wasn’t exactly as covert as I was hoping,” Xephos muttered under his breath. Lalna snorted at the displeasure in his voice.

“Well, it wouldn’t be us if something didn’t go wrong,” Lalna joked, and Xephos let out a breathy-laugh in response.

The four hobbled as quickly as possible over the clearing of grass. They made it about five meters before guards began shouting from behind them. 

Xephos let out a growl of frustration and slung Lalna off of his shoulder as gently as he could for the rush they were in. He nodded at Zoeya. “Keep going, I’ll just be a moment,” he sighed in the same way someone might when they’ve been interrupted while reading the newspaper. He doubled back and approached the guards.

In just a few swift movements, Xephos disarmed the two guards and stunned them with quick blows to the head with the butt of his sword.

Lalna gawked. He didn’t often get to see Xephos fight, but if Xephos was good at anything, it was swordsmanship. He returned with an air of casualness to the situation that, if Lalna had the time to think about more, would be a bit concerning.

Lalna realized as Xephos returned to his side he himself hadn’t moved an inch and had just been staring.

Xephos seemed to realize this as well, as his face twisted with bewilderment and anger. “What are you doing? Run!” He shouted.

Lalna felt his face burn with embarrassment. “Right!” He squeaked.

As he turned back to run, he could see Zoeya blowing darts from the treeline that went distances that should’ve been impossible according to the laws of physics. He really shouldn’t have been surprised, her natural attunement to magic made a casual telekinesis spell child’s play.

Guards that should’ve caught up to them by now dropped like flies with each dart. Eventually, they stopped chasing, seemingly nervous about what unknown force was knocking them out. They hovered by the compound and watched the four flee.

 As he reached the treeline, Lalna could see two horses tied up. He groaned in realization. When he looked back at Xephos who was heading up the rear, the man was offering him a nervous smile.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare transport,” Xephos twisted his hands as he anticipated Lalna’s response.

“You couldn’t have brought Sweetie Pie instead?” Lalna complained.

“You know she’s not big enough to carry two people,” Xephos crossed his arms, reminding him in the same tone a school teacher might use with a whiny child.

His own horse, Goldie, had Rythian lying prostrate horizontally over her behind Zoeya who had already gotten on the saddle. Apparently, the man had fainted, or perhaps had just allowed Zoeya to throw him up there like a wet sack of flour. Goldie whinnied at him expectantly, but he was forced to turn instead to Xephos’ horse, Sugar.

Lalna and Sugar had a… rocky relationship, to say the least. Honeydew and he theorized she was actually a unicorn with her horn sawed off, hellbent on killing all humanoids on the planet.

All humanoids except Xephos, that is. Lalna’s only theory he wasn’t a target of the beast’s menace was the man’s alien nature.

Lucky bastard.

He glared at the mare, his most recent encounter with her fresh in his mind. His hair still hadn’t grown back all the way on that spot of his head yet. 

Sugar acknowledged him with an equally displeased look, her ears flicking unsurely.

Xephos patted her neck placatingly. “It’s alright, it’s just Lalna. We like Lalna,” he hummed. The horse seemed to snort in disapproval.

“Can’t I just ride Goldie?” Lalna whined. He already knew the answer based off of Rythian’s limp potato-sack-esque form, but he at least needed to try.

Xephos sighed. “Rythian needs to ride Goldie. It’ll just be for a short while, I’ll be walking beside you the whole time,” he reassured him.

“That didn’t stop her last time,” Lalna grumped, and Xephos looked at the sky as if begging some unseen entity for patience. 

A low, annoyed growl reverberated from Xephos’ throat. “We don’t have time for this, can you just-“

“Yeah, yeah,” Lalna sighed overdramatically and got onto the horse. He blinked as a wave of dizziness that washed over him from the sudden change in gravity. Xephos’ hand was suddenly hooked through his belt, keeping him from falling over. After a moment, his brain resettled back into his body. Xephos’ hand lingered on his hip for another moment before he moved to grab the horse’s rein.

Sugar huffed and shook her head. Xephos gave her an unamused look. “You hush, too,” he warned. The horse stopped her angry snorts and stomps, but Lalna could still feel her contempt in the air.

Xephos nodded to Zoeya, who grinned toothily and patted Rythian’s unconscious head in silent agreement. 

And, with that, they were off.